„My calendars are linked, the occupancy is right — and I still write the check-in link to every guest by hand." We hear this sentence from hosts who have outgrown a single flat. iCal transfers a single thing: which dates are occupied. No name, e-mail, phone number or price. And it does not transfer even that occupancy instantly — Booking.com itself points out that calendars are not synchronised in real time.

The moment you want to automate guest handling — check-in, UbyPort, the register, messages — you need a full connection: a channel manager connected via API. This article says what you gain by it, where exactly the API key arises, how long it is valid, how much it costs and when it still does not pay off for you. If you are only just dealing with calendars, start here: → iCal: how to link calendars so a double booking never happens

What to do

iCal versus a full connection

iCAL — free, but occupancy only:

• it transfers occupied and blocked dates, nothing more
• it does not transfer the name, e-mail, phone number, number of people or price
• Airbnb loads connected calendars automatically every 3 hours (the manual „Refresh" has a limited number of requests), Booking.com imports every 2 hours
• it therefore reduces the risk of a double booking, but does not remove it

A FULL CONNECTION — via the channel manager's API:

• the complete booking: guest, e-mail, phone number, number of people, price, status
• with most supported platforms the check-in invitation goes straight into the Airbnb or Booking.com thread; with some (typically Hospitable) a special permission from the provider is needed for this, elsewhere the invitation goes by e-mail or SMS
• bookings come continuously, not at a fixed interval
• cancellations and booking changes are loaded automatically from the channel manager, you do not have to rewrite them by hand

In practice: with a full connection the guest registers themselves through the link the app sends them into the platform's thread, and all you do is check. That is the difference between „I will make it" and „I will not make it". You must report the accommodation of a foreigner to the police unit within 3 working days of their being accommodated (§ 102(1) of Act No. 326/1999 Coll.), and whoever provides accommodation as a business must do so by remote access, that is through the UbyPort application (§ 102(3)). Entries in the register must be kept in current time, clearly and chronologically (§ 101(3)). With iCal this whole deadline rests on your remembering to send the link and on the guest filling it in on time.

And one thing that even the experienced get wrong: „the register" is two different records under two different acts — the house register under the Foreigners Act (foreigners only, § 100(f) and § 101) and the stay fee register under the Act on local fees (all guests, § 3g of Act No. 565/1990 Coll.). → The guest register: what must not be missing (and what does not belong there)

Whom we support and where the key arises

We will connect you in a few clicks, you only need the key from your own account. The paths to it valid as of September 2026:

• HOSPITABLE — popular with Airbnb hosts. my.hospitable.com → Apps (or Settings → Integrations) → API access → the Access tokens tab → „+ Add new", you choose the Read and Write permissions. The free Essentials plan has no API, you need a paid plan.
• SMOOBU — a European classic. Settings → Advanced → API Keys → Create API Key → Generate Secret. The secret is shown only once, save it straight away.
• BEDS24 — an extremely capable tool. (SETTINGS) → MARKETPLACE → API → „generate invite code". It is not a classic key: the invite code is exchanged for a refresh token. The relevant permissions are bookings, bookings-personal (the guest's personal data), bookings-financial (prices and payments), inventory and properties; access can also be limited to specific IP addresses.
• HOSTEX — a modern system with its own Open API. Dashboard (WorkPlace) → OpenAPI Settings → „+ Add new", name it, choose the read-only or writable scope; the direct link is hostex.io/app/api/open-api. It requires the Pro or Premium plan; the Basic plan returns an error saying that it does not support this function.
• LODGIFY — a website plus bookings. Main Menu → Settings → Public API. Careful, it is a single account key with read and write rights; cancelling it disconnects all integrations at once.
• HOSTAWAY — for larger managers. Dashboard → Settings → Hostaway API → Create → you fill in Name and Partner (for non-partner software choose „Hostaway Public API"). The Account ID and API Key are shown only once; once the window is closed, regeneration is necessary.
• PREVIO (beta) — a Czech hotel system on the market since 2004, stating 5,554 hosts and connections to 350 portals and more. You will not generate a self-service key here: the API is a paid supplementary service and access is issued by a sales representative. Previo has the connection of third-party software — including our app — in its price list at CZK 7,490 one-off and CZK 250 monthly excluding VAT; that you pay to Previo, our connection is included in the app's price anyway.

Do you use a different system? Write to us — we extend support according to demand.

The validity of keys and what to watch

The most common report of „the connection has stopped working" has its cause neither with us nor with the platform — the key has merely expired:

• Hospitable — the token is valid for 1 year, then a new one must be created.
• Smoobu — the new key and secret that you generate yourself have no expiry: they are valid the whole time you use them. The old keys with the Api-Key header, however, end on 25. 9. 2026.
• Beds24 — the invite code 24 hours (exchange it at once), the access token 24 hours, the refresh token expires after 30 days of non-use, the long-term one after 90 days.
• Hostex — the token does not expire, it is valid until deletion or the end of the subscription.
• Lodgify — one account key without expiry, the permissions cannot be limited.
• Hostaway — the token is valid for up to 24 months, better renew it once a year; messages have a ceiling of 30 per minute, the account 200 requests per 10 seconds.
• Previo — access is set up and renewed by a sales representative.

How much it costs and when it pays off

A channel manager is that company's paid service, not ours. Our connection is included in the app's price. Prices verified as of September 2026:

• Beds24 — from EUR 15.50/month, plus EUR 0.55/month for each connection of a room type to one channel; for payments under EUR 50 a handling fee is added.
• Smoobu — Professional Flex EUR 29/month plus 0.9 % of bookings, Professional Prepaid EUR 35/month (EUR 31.50 with annual payment, without the percentage), Teams Pro+ EUR 55/month (EUR 49.50 annually). The price is made up of the tariff and the number of units: the price list states for the first unit a rate from EUR 28/month depending on the chosen tariff and for each further one from EUR 9.60/month.
• Hospitable — Essentials USD 0 (no API), Host USD 29/month, Professional USD 59/month, Mogul USD 99/month; for a further property USD 10–30 depending on the plan, check the exact amount in the Hospitable calculator. Annual payment is 12 % cheaper.
• Lodgify — according to the official price list Basic EUR 18/month (EUR 14 with annual payment), Starter EUR 33 (EUR 26), Professional EUR 53 (EUR 42), Ultimate EUR 77 (EUR 62) for one property, as of 5. 9. 2026 without a booking fee; older comparison sites still state a fee of 1.9 % of the booking for the lower plans, so go by the current Lodgify price list.
• Hostex — the price list states Basic USD 4.90, Pro USD 7 and Premium USD 10.50 per property per month (only Pro and Premium have the API); with several properties the final amount is shown only in the calculator after logging in, annual payment is 33 % cheaper, the trial period is 15 days without a card. Hostaway does not publish prices, it gives them on request and targets managers from two units upwards.
• Previo — excluding VAT: the PMS CZK 300 per room per month (PRO) or CZK 250 per room per month (LITE) plus a one-off set-up of CZK 9,490 or CZK 6,490; the channel manager CZK 250 per connected portal per month plus CZK 1,990 one-off; the booking form 4 % of confirmed bookings.

It pays off for you when:

Stay with iCal when you have one flat, few bookings and send the check-in link to guests by hand. For compliance that is enough with our app — but only if you send the link right after the booking is confirmed and the guest fills it in on time. iCal does not supply the guest's identity, so the 3 working day deadline hangs on your memory.

One more effect that is rarely counted on: hosts connected through software moved on Airbnb to a single host-only fee of 15.5 % of the booking subtotal (14–16 % for some hosts) as early as 13. 4. 2026, while other hosts in the EEA including the Czech Republic move to it only on 13. 10. 2026. By connecting, the Airbnb commission in your overviews therefore rises earlier — and with it the base for the VAT on the received service. → Identified person: the VAT on Airbnb and Booking commissions almost nobody knows about

How the connection goes

1. 1In your channel manager you generate the key by the path above (we have a guide for each platform right at the connection). With Beds24 do not forget that the invite code is valid for 24 hours.
2. 2In the app you open Settings → Platform connection, choose the platform and paste the key.
3. 3Once you pair the properties from the channel manager with the apartments here.
4. 4Done. Bookings are downloaded automatically and check-in invitations can go out by themselves — you are the one who switches them on.

Security and data protection: we store keys encrypted. We recommend creating a dedicated key just for our app, so that it can be cancelled separately at any time — with Lodgify this is not possible, there is a single account key there.

But do not skimp blindly on permissions. If you give Beds24 only bookings without bookings-personal and bookings-financial, or Hostex only read-only, you lose exactly the data from which the check-in and the financial overviews are filled — and with Beds24 you can no longer extend it without a new invite code.

And the legal side: because guests' personal data flows into the app from the channel manager, you are the controller of the personal data and we are the processor. Such a relationship requires a processing agreement (Art. 28 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and the guests need to be informed about the processing. → GDPR and guest data: what you may, what you must and what is forbidden

The most common mistakes and myths

• „iCal rules out a double booking completely." — It does not. Booking.com imports every 2 hours, Airbnb every 3 hours, and Booking.com itself writes that it is not in real time. At peak times two guests may end up with the same date.
• „I have a channel manager in the free tariff, so I have the API too." — Neither Hospitable Essentials nor Hostex Basic has access to the API; without a paid plan you will not set up the connection.
• „I set the key up once and I am done." — The Hospitable token expires in a year, the Beds24 refresh token after 30 days of non-use, Smoobu switches off the old keys on 25. 9. 2026. The connection needs to be renewed once in a while.
• „I will give the app the minimum of permissions so that it is safe." — Sensible, but with Beds24 and Hostex you thereby switch off both the prices and the guest's personal data, that is exactly what you are making the connection for — and it cannot be extended afterwards.
• „If I take a channel manager, I can keep iCal on Booking as well." — Not for the same property. A property with a connectivity provider does not have the Sync calendars feature in the extranet.

Frequently asked questions

Updated: 5. 9. 2026, verified against the sources listed. Informational text, not legal or tax advice — discuss your specific situation with a professional.